System and method for controlling a plurality of media devices

ABSTRACT

A system and method for enabling communication is disclosed, wherein the system may include a plurality of media devices configured to cooperate within a media delivery environment; at least one of the media devices having a wireless communication transceiver coupled thereto; a database for storing device-specific command data for the plurality of media devices; and a computing system operable to (a) receive a request from a first media device to interact with a second media device; (b) convert the interaction request into device-specific command data for the second media device; and (c) transmit the device-specific command data to the second media device.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates in general to machine interfaces, and inparticular to communication between media delivery devices.

Currently, home entertainment devices such as DVD (Digital Video Disk)players, television receivers, and audio receivers generally includesome form of electronic interconnection means to enable the devices tocommunicate with a corresponding device. One current mechanism fordevice interconnection is the use of the High-Definition MultimediaInterface (HDMI) standard, which generally uses a cable between devicesin communication with one another. In some cases, this cable may have aterminal device in the form of a connector that can be plugged intovarious of the units to enable interconnection for at least videotransmission

Control communications may also be sent over these cables, however, thecommunication interfaces of the various devices are not all compatiblewith one another. Incompatibilities may exist between devices fromdifferent manufacturers and sometimes between different models ofdevices from the same manufacturer. Enabling the various devices to worktogether within an overall system is rendered difficult by theabove-recited incompatibilities.

The failure of the command interconnects is evident in view of the needfor many users to use multiple remote control devices to manage theirsystems via the Infra-Red interface on each of the remote controldevices. One approach to dealing with the above problem is to use asingle remote control which can mimic the remote-control commands foreach of the individual remote control units of the manufacturers.Another existing solution is to program these remote controls to jointhe commands together into a macro. One problem with the Infra-Redcommand sets is that they are a one-way control interface that lacks theability to send information back to the remote control unit to indicatethat individual commands of the macro have been executed. Since themacro commands must be executed in a specified order, a failure of anycommand may disable an entire sequence of commands.

Because a wide variety of media/entertainment devices are available foruse together in individual entertainment systems, and because many ofthe remote-control-unit key sequences needed to implement specificcommands are poorly documented, or undocumented, the existing art makesoverall management of home theatre equipment and/or other media deliverydevices very difficult. Thus, there is a need in the art for improvedsystems and methods for control of devices within home theater systems.

For the sake of discussion, we consider a current entertainment systemthat includes an A/V receiver, a Cable TV tuner, a DVD player, atelevision set, and one or more speakers. Initially setting up thesystem generally includes connecting wires between the various devices,ensuring that wire terminals are inserted into the right receptacles, aswell as selecting, identifying and possibly memorializing (with anotepad, or with identifying tags on the cables and wires) the inputs towhich the respective wires are connected.

For example, a first input for the television set may be for the DVDplayer. The input may be named by the manufacturer of the TV set, or theuser may name it using a tag or other mechanism. However, an input canbe pre-named “dvd player”, and if the user inserts the DVD player cableinto a non-DVD player input, the naming conventions will be incorrect.The same input and cross-connection identification issues arise with theA/V (Audio Video) receiver, except that there are more input andconfiguration selections. Typically, there are also configurationselections for the type of audio (coax, tos-link, etc.) depending on thecapabilities of the DVD player and TV Tuner. There are still furtherconfiguration settings to be established for the television set, whichmanage brightness and picture aspect ratio.

The steps a user needs to follow to watch a movie may include: poweringon the receiver, the DVD player, and the television set, then selectingthe proper input on the receiver for the audio, and then selecting theproper input for presentation on the television set. While the systemmay have functioning audio and video links to the television set oncethe above steps are followed, further adjustment to the configurationmay be needed to fine tune the audio and video output. For instance, theaudio for the movie may not come from the DVD player, but actually mayneed to be sent to the television and then returned to the AV receiverthrough a different path, necessitating a different input on thereceiver to be used for audio depending on the digital rights managementof the particular movie and equipment. The totality of the above-listedconnection, configuration, and fine tuning adjustments may becumbersome, especially for less technology-literate consumers, and maythus impair the overall enjoyment of the equipment and the media(whether movie, music video or other media type) to be played on theoverall system.

Thus, there is a need in the art for a system and method for configuringa home entertainment system that is less cumbersome and more rapid thanwhat is available in the existing art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to one aspect, the invention is directed to a system forenabling communication, wherein the system may include a plurality ofmedia devices configured to cooperate within a media deliveryenvironment; at least one of the media devices having a wirelesscommunication transceiver coupled thereto; a database for storingdevice-specific command data for the plurality of media devices; and acomputing system operable to (a) receive a request from a first mediadevice to interact with a second media device; (b) convert theinteraction request into device-specific command data for the secondmedia device; and (c) transmit the device-specific command data to thesecond media device.

Other aspects, features, advantages, etc. will become apparent to oneskilled in the art when the description of the preferred embodiments ofthe invention herein is taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For the purposes of illustrating the various aspects of the invention,there are shown in the drawings forms that are presently preferred, itbeing understood, however, that the invention is not limited to theprecise arrangements and instrumentalities shown.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system for interconnection of a pluralityof media devices in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a wireless communication node inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a back end system in accordance with one ormore embodiments of the present invention; and

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a computer system useable in conjunctionwith one or more embodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In the following description, for purposes of explanation, specificnumbers, materials and configurations are set forth in order to providea thorough understanding of the invention. It will be apparent, however,to one having ordinary skill in the art that the invention may bepracticed without these specific details. In some instances, well-knownfeatures may be omitted or simplified so as not to obscure the presentinvention. Furthermore, reference in the specification to phrases suchas “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature,structure or characteristic described in connection with the embodimentis included in at least one embodiment of the invention. The appearancesof phrases such as “in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” in variousplaces in the specification do not necessarily all refer to the sameembodiment.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system 100 for interconnection of aplurality of media devices in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention. System 100 may include Audio-Video (A/V) receiver102, Cable TV tuner 014, DVD player 106, computer 130 which may be incommunication with data storage device 134, speaker system 110 (whichmay include one or more speakers), television 108, router 140, and/orback end system 300, where both back end system 300 and router 140 mayboth be connected to the internet 150.

System 100 may further include a plurality of communication nodes. Nodes112, 114, 116, 118, 132, may be coupled through suitable connections toA/V receiver 102, cable TV tuner 104, DVD player 106, television 108,and computer 130, respectively. The details of the various nodes aredescribed further in connection with node 200 of FIG. 2 which generallycorresponds to nodes 112, 114, 116 etc of FIG. 1. Node 200 (and thenodes of FIG. 1) may be wireless transceiver devices with a plurality ofdata communication ports, and which may further include processors anddata storage capability therein.

Router 140 may be in communication with computer 130 and/or otherdevices shown in FIG. 1 using wireless communication link 142.Specifically, router 140 may be placed in wireless communication withone or more of nodes 112, 114, 116, 118, and 132. A/V receiver 102 maysend speaker control signals along wired connection 120 to speakersystem 110. However, in an alternative embodiment speaker system 110could be equipped with a wireless node and receive speaker datawirelessly. In this alternative embodiment, speaker system 110 couldreceive power separately from the communication path 120, whilereceiving data wirelessly along path 120.

System 10 is preferably operable to provide wireless interconnections ofthe various media devices, with each device using its respective node200 to communicate with either a central device, such as computer 130,or with another media device using peer-to-peer communications in a meshnetwork. System 10 is directed to enabling easier, more rapid, and morereadily adaptable device setup and interoperability than is possibleusing existing technology.

System 10 may include a machine-to-machine interpreter and controlsystem with nodes that plug into the respective media devices. Aninterpretation and control system may receive commands from one of thedevices and convert the commands into a form understandable to one ormore other devices with in the system 10. The control system may alsoreceive data from one or more of the devices and generate commands to beimplemented by one of the devices of FIG. 1. The control system may beimplemented in any computing device capable of communicating withdevices, 102, 104, 106, 108, and/or 110, including but not limited tocomputer 130 and/or any computer within back end system 300, which isdescribed in greater detail in connection with FIG. 3. Alternatively,the interpretation and control system could be implemented in the nodes112, 114, 116 etc themselves, using the processors 230 and storagedevices 232 (FIG. 2) that may be included within one or more of thenodes.

In one embodiment, the interpreter function, described above, may beupdated using internet 150 to ensure that the command sets used by theinterpreter correspond to the command sets understood by the devices thecommands are intended for.

In an embodiment, a communally accessible database, which may be locatedin data storage device 134 (or in data storage device 311 of back endsystem 300), may be implemented so that users can update the command setfor different devices, and so that the command sets are available to allnodes to use in order to update their respective communicationscapabilities. For example, if a new channel becomes available on A/Vreceiver 102, this information may be stored in database 134 and maythereafter be made available to cable TV tuner 104, computer 130, orother device within system 10.

In an embodiment, a registration and management system may beimplemented in computer 130, in back end system 300, or other suitablecomputing system. This registration and management system may controlthe cross connects of audio and video data streams and may command andcontrol various different devices from different manufacturers, therebyenabling interoperability of devices of diverse type, and diverseorigin.

In the following, we discuss one embodiment for the construction of node200 of FIG. 2. Thereafter we discuss features that may be present invarious embodiments of node 200. In the following, node 200, thoughnumbered separately, may correspond to any one of nodes 112, 114, 116,and 118 shown coupled to various respective media devices in FIG. 1.However, various embodiments of node 200 (and therefore of the nodes ofFIG. 1) are discussed in this section. The nodes of the embodiment ofFIG. 1 may include any desired selection of the features of node 200discussed herein.

Node 200 is preferably operable to provide a universal interface fromany media device within an entertainment system to any other devicewithin the entertainment system, or any other system including aplurality of devices capable of communicating with one another. In oneembodiment, each media device may have its own communications node 200,as is shown in FIG. 1. In this situation, each such node 200 preferablyincludes at least one data communications interface suitable forinterfacing with the device that it is coupled to, and at least onewireless antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data using acommonly used standard such as, but not limited to, embedded wirelessWIFI, Wi-GIG/BT. We note that other wireless communication standards maybe employed. In the following, we list various communication interfacesand operational components that may included in each node 200.

A set of nodes 200 (FIG. 2) may be operable to manage connections andswitching for the transmission of audio and/or video data among thevarious media devices of FIG. 1, thereby simplifying the control of theswitching (for instance the television only needs one input) andallowing new devices to present audio and video streams to thetelevision on an ad-hoc basis.

The nodes 200 (FIG. 2) may include data transport for video and audioalong with the control and signaling transport and interpretation, whichoperates as a mesh network to allow any node to contact and transportaudio or video to any other node in a peer-to-peer direct connection. Inone embodiment, the nodes may be operable to transport video and/oraudio data directly from one node to another, without first sending thedata though an intermediary device.

In the embodiment of FIG. 2, node 200 may include wireless antenna 220(which may be a WIFI antenna), digital audio port 204 (which maytransmit/receive optical digital data), HDMI port 202, IR/AV(infra-red/AV) link 206, power link 210, and/or processor 230. Node 200may be a wireless device that is external to each media device having anode 200 coupled thereto, which node can be interfaced with otherdevices within a home theatre entertainment system. Alternatively, node200 could be located within each media device, instead of being outsidethe device. In the embodiment of FIGS. 1-2, node 200 may have a wiredconnection to the media device it is shown coupled to (such as forinstance node 112 to A/V receiver 102), and wireless data communicationto other devices within system 10 of FIG. 1, such as for instancewireless data communication path 142 between node 132 of computer 130,and router 140. However, in alternative embodiments, the communicationbetween the respective nodes 200 (i.e. including nodes 112, 114, 116etc.) of FIG. 1 could communicate with one another using wiredconnections. Moreover, a combination of wireless and wired connectionscould be used for the communication between the nodes 200 of FIG. 1.

Each node 200 may have a variety of input and/or output ports. Node 200may include connections for power 210, HDMI 202, Infrared/AV link 206using a ⅛″ jack connector, and/or digital audio output 204. Theinput/output from digital audio port 204 may be optical or electrical.Nodes 200 may plug into the respective HDMI ports of each of therelevant media devices (such as devices 102, 104, 106 of FIG. 1), asshown in FIG. 1. An exemplary list of media devices to which nodes 200may be attached include, but is not limited to, television sets,Blue-Ray DVD players, Cable TV tuners, audio receivers and/oraudio-video receivers.

Nodes 200 preferably provide data input and output capabilities for thevarious media devices. Nodes 200 may also provide control data to andfrom the respective media devices. In alternative embodiments, thefunctions of nodes 200 may be embedded into the respective mediadevices, rather than being performed by separate devices that are incommunication with the respective media devices.

Once nodes 200 are connected to their respective media devices, thenodes 200 preferably detect the machine connected thereto through avariety of means, including the HDMI-CEC protocol which can identify thedevice name. Nodes 200 may then communicate via a wireless protocol to acommunal database, preferably stored on back end system 300, to receiveinstructions on how best to communicate with each media device. We nowturn to a preferred system for hosting the communal database referred toabove.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an embodiment of back end system 300 shownin FIG. 1. An embodiment of back end system 300 may be operable to storethe identities, command sets, locations, and system configurations ofmedia devices 102, 104, 106, 108, and/110 (and/or further devices) ofFIG. 1 in communal database 311. Back end system 300 may be operable toreceive a command from an originating device and conduct any neededinterpretation to convert the commands into a form needed by the devicethat is the intended destination device for the command (such as a DVDplayer 106 requesting that television set 108 play video originatingfrom DVD player 106). Alternatively, back end system 300 may downloadthe specifications of a destination device to a node 200 of anoriginating device, and the node 200 itself may conduct any neededinterpretations for the command set of a destination device. A morespecific example of this interpretation process is discussed later inthis specification.

Back end system 300 may provide setup and configuration services for thevarious media devices shown in FIG. 1 that may replace the setup andconfiguration activity that in existing systems would be conducted atthe media devices themselves.

However, back end system 300 preferably provides considerably greatercomputing power and greater data storage resources than that availableon even a large number of consumer media devices. Moreover, theconfiguration and setup data, once entered onto back end system 300, maybe accessible to one or more authorized parties other than the user ofthe media devices shown in FIG. 1. Further, the pertinent setup data maybe adjusted as needed to reflect changes in media devices includedwithin system 10 of FIG. 1, the command sets understood by therespective devices and/or changes in the amount and type of mediaservices available at the respective media devices of system 10.

Back end system 300 may include computer systems 310, 312, and 314;and/or data storage facilities 320, 322, and 324. Computer system 310 isshown including a local data storage device 311, which may also bereferred to as communal database 311. However, any of the computersystems shown in FIG. 2 may also include local data storage. While threecomputer systems and three data storage facilities are shown in FIG. 2,it will be appreciated that fewer or more than three computing systems,and fewer or more than three data storage facilities may be configuredfor use with back end system 300. The equipment of back end system 300may be concentrated at one location. However, alternatively, the variousoperational components of back end system 300 may be distributed overthe internet 150 and may communicate with one another over the “cloud”as needed. Moreover, the functionality of back end system 300 need notbe permanently assigned to any fixed set of hardware devices. Instead,the functionality and/or data storage of back end system 300 may bemigrated to computing systems on a for-hire basis, as needed. Thus, forinstance, communal database 311 is not limited to being stored on onespecific data storage device, but may instead be distributed over anynumber of data storage devices accessible by the processing ability ofback end system 300.

An example is considered in which DVD player 106 (the origin device) isexpected to play a disk and transmit video data from the disk totelevision 108 (the destination device). According to one embodiment,addressed in this section, back end system 300 may possess datadescribing the various media devices within system 10 and may deliverthe needed command instructions to the respective devices. Under thisapproach, DVD player 106 may first signal back end system 300, viarouter 140, that it has video data for delivery to television 108. Uponreceiving the request, back end system 300 consults communal database311 to determine the command sets of the origin and destination devicesand to convert the stated request from origin device, DVD player 106,into the commands that can be understood by television 108, thedestination device. Back end system 300 may then transmit control databack to system 10 that includes (a) instructions to television 108 tobegin receiving and displaying data to be received from DVD player 106,the instructions having been specifically tailored for the brand andmodel of television 108; and/or (b) signaling commands to let DVD player106 know when television 108 is ready to receive audio/video data fromDVD player 106. Alternatively, nodes 116 and/nodes 118 (collectivelynodes 200) and/or other nodes within system 10 may perform one or moreof the functions described above as being performed by back end system300. Once both DVD player 106 and television set 108 are ready, DVDplayer 106 may begin transmitting audio/video data directly totelevision 108. Thus, in the above example, control and signaling datawere obtained by interpreting a request from DVD player 106, andgenerating suitable instructions/commands for television set 108.However, the payload data (the actual underlying video and audio datafor presentation by television set 108 and consumption by a user oftelevision set 108) is preferably transmitted directly from DVD player106 to television set 108, via their respective nodes (i.e. nodes 116and 118), without the need for back end system 300 to serve anintermediary.

Communal database 311 may include a registration and management systemthat may be operable to store the specific commands for each of themedia devices (such as devices 104, 104, 106, etc.) to enable back endsystem 300 to correlate a general instruction (such as “play video ontelevision set”) to a command set specific to the particular brand andmodel of television set 108, and possibly also specific to devicesettings already entered into television set 108. The command detailsassociated with television set 108 in communal database 311 may bereadily updated, using the internet, to reflect changes in system 10,including but not limited to: a change in brand or model of televisionset 108; a change in DVD player 106; and/or a change in the audio orvideo settings of television set 108 whether entered manually andlocally or by remote devices.

In an alternative embodiment, the storage of device-specific commands,the registration and management function which forms part of thecommunal database, and the conversion of general commands from anoriginating device into device-specific commands for a destinationdevice may be performed wholly, or in part, by the nodes 200 themselves.Nodes 200 may include respective processors 230 and data storage devices232 which together may be operable to perform the functions discussedabove in connection with back end system 300. The data processing anddata storage burden may be allocated among the nodes 200 (such as nodes112, 114, 116 etc.) so as to not overburden any processor 230 of any onenode 200.

With reference to FIG. 3, communal database 311 may be updated from avariety of sources to ensure it is up to date. In one embodiment, avariety of possible communication mechanisms may be made available tonodes 200 by the respective media devices with which the nodes 200 areassociated.

The communication mechanisms may include: (1) each device having an NFC(near field communications) strip uniquely identifying the device; (2)the user's cell phone having NFC capability; (3) the user running anapplication on his/her cell phone which may prompt the user to place thephone near the device to be identified, and the cell phone then pickingup the specific identification information and then transmitting theinformation to a database constructed for the user which includes datadescribing each of the user's devices.

Thereafter, one or more of the following events may occur: (a) the cellphone may configure itself to communicate directly with each deviceusing Bluetooth, WIFI or other appropriate communication protocol; (b)the cell phone application may then look up the particular settings andinterconnections required for the pertinent media devices concerned andapply those settings to the media devices. The settings andinterconnections to be looked up may include macros (sets ofinstructions represented using an abbreviated format) based on actionsto be taken. For example, “play” may be pressed on the DVD player 6,which may in turn trigger a host of settings on the rest of theequipment. The settings and interconnection information may furtherinclude the translation settings which are preferably operable to ensurethat each device can communicate with all other devices within a localmedia system. The settings and interconnection information may furtherinclude username/password/ssid (Service Set Identification) or othersettings to configure appropriate access for each device to reach theinternet as may be needed, or to enable the devices to communicate witheach other.

Once the foregoing has been completed, the cell phone application maythen configure each device's user name and passwords to enable access alocal WIFI node if the local WIFI node is configured correctly.Thereafter, the cell phone may configure itself to act as a wirelessremote control for all of the media devices.

On occasion, in the future, if internet 150 access is available to thedevices, the devices may update their settings in the communal database311 (or in a node-based equivalent to database 311), based onmodifications suggested by the controlling websites. The nodes 200themselves may also operate as internet access nodes for each of themedia devices (such as receiver 102, tuner 104, DVD player 106,television 108 etc.) they are connected to via HDMI, since selected HDMIversions include internet links.

The user may have access to a web site and associated user interface soas to conveniently access data describing the user's equipment and theprogramming logic of the equipment. The user may also be able to shareprogramming logic with other users who have similar devices. The userinterface preferably enables the user to suitably update the communaldatabase 311 to reflect any changes in equipment within, changes to thesettings of the equipment in, and/or other changes in the operatingstatus of, system 10. Thus, if the user to were replace a firsttelevision set 108 of brand “A” with a second television set 108 ofbrand “B”, the device-specific commands needed to instruct televisionset 108 to begin using an input port from Cable TV tuner 104 may wellchange. Thus, a problem could arise if data describing the contents ofsystem 10 at communal database 311 were left unchanged. However, oncethe user updates the status of television set 108 so that communaldatabase 311 has data that correctly reflects the fact that a brand “B”television set is now installed in system 10, back end system 300 willable to generate the right device-specific commands for television set108 upon receiving a request from Cable TV tuner 104.

Alternatively, television set 108 of brand B, once powered on, andinstalled in system 10, may be able to send out a message using node 118to inform back end system 300 of its brand and model status and/or itscommand set, to enable back end system 300 to update the device-specificinstructions associated with television 108 in communal database 311.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a computing system 400 adaptable for usewith one or more embodiments of the present invention. Centralprocessing unit (CPU) 402 may be coupled to bus 404. In addition, bus404 may be coupled to random access memory (RAM) 406, read only memory(ROM) 408, input/output (I/O) adapter 410, communications adapter 422,user interface adapter 406, and display adapter 418.

In an embodiment, RAM 406 and/or ROM 408 may hold user data, systemdata, and/or programs. I/O adapter 410 may connect storage devices, suchas hard drive 412, a CD-ROM (not shown), or other mass storage device tocomputing system 400. Communications adapter 422 may couple computingsystem 400 to a local, wide-area, or global network 424. User interfaceadapter 416 may couple user input devices, such as keyboard 426, scanner428 and/or pointing device 414, to computing system 400. Moreover,display adapter 418 may be driven by CPU 402 to control the display ondisplay device 420. CPU 402 may be any general purpose CPU.

It is noted that the methods and apparatus described thus far and/ordescribed later in this document may be achieved utilizing any of theknown technologies, such as standard digital circuitry, analogcircuitry, any of the known processors that are operable to executesoftware and/or firmware programs, programmable digital devices orsystems, programmable array logic devices, or any combination of theabove. One or more embodiments of the invention may also be embodied ina software program for storage in a suitable storage medium andexecution by a processing unit.

Although the invention herein has been described with reference toparticular embodiments, it is to be understood that these embodimentsare merely illustrative of the principles and applications of thepresent invention. It is therefore to be understood that numerousmodifications may be made to the illustrative embodiments and that otherarrangements may be devised without departing from the spirit and scopeof the present invention as defined by the appended claims.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A system for enabling communication, thesystem comprising: a plurality of media devices configured to cooperatewithin a media delivery environment with each media device havingdevice-specific command data different from the other media devices, thecommand data related to delivery of audio/video data from one mediadevice to another media device; each media device having a wirelesscommunication transceiver coupled thereto; a database for storing thedevice-specific command data for the plurality of media devices; and acell phone operable to, in real-time, (a) receive a request from a firstone of said media devices to interact with a second one of said mediadevices in the form of a command data; (b) convert the received commanddata into device-specific command data for the second media device,which is different from the received command data; and (c) transmit theconverted device-specific command data to the second media device so asto deliver the audio/video data.
 2. The system of claim 1 wherein thedatabase is hosted by a back end system which communicates with theplurality of media devices over the internet.
 3. The system of claim 1wherein the transceiver is coupled to its media device over an HDMI(high definition multimedia interface) port.
 4. The system of claim 1wherein the converted device-specific command data for the second mediadevice is sufficient to allow the second media device to play theaudio/video data without further user involvement.
 5. The system ofclaim 1, further comprising software downloadable to the cell phone toallow the cell phone to act as a two way remote control for theplurality of media devices.
 6. A method, comprising: providing anentertainment system having a plurality of media devices, with eachmedia device having device-specific command data different from theother media devices, the command data related to transmission ofaudio/video data from one media device to another media device, eachmedia device having a wireless transceiver coupled thereto; a first saidmedia device issuing a request to transmit the audio/video data to asecond said media device in the form of a command data wirelessly to acell phone; converting, by the cell phone, the received command datainto device-specific command data tailored for said second media device,which is different from the received command data; and transmitting, bythe cell phone, the converted device-specific command data to the secondmedia device so as to play the audio/video data.
 7. The method of claim6 further comprising storing command data specific to the plurality ofmedia devices in a communal database.
 8. The method of claim 6 whereinthe converted device-specific command data for the second media deviceis sufficient to allow the second media device to play the audio/videodata without further user involvement.
 9. The method of claim 6, furthercomprising configuring the cell phone to operate as a two-way remotecontrol device for the plurality of media devices.
 10. The method ofclaim 6, further comprising: wirelessly reading, by the cell phone,identifying information from the plurality of media devices belonging toa user; transmitting by the cell phone to a back end database theidentifying information, the back end database storing, for each user,data describing each of the user media devices; obtainingdevice-specific data for the plurality of media devices from the backend database based on the identifying information; and configuring theplurality of media devices to enable communication therebetween usingthe device-specific data from the back end database.
 11. The method ofclaim 10 further comprising hosting the back end database at a back endsystem located remotely from the plurality of media devices.
 12. Themethod of claim 11 wherein the obtaining step includes receiving thedevice-specific data from the database over the internet by the cellphone.
 13. The method of claim 11 wherein the obtaining step includestransmitting the device-specific data from the database over theinternet to the cell phone, from which the cell phone configures themedia devices.
 14. The method of claim 11, further comprisingtransmitting software to the cell phone to enable the cell phone toconfigure internet access for each media device.
 15. The method of claim10, wherein the step of wirelessly reading includes wirelessly readingthe identifying information from the media devices through NFC, WIFI orBluetooth.
 16. The method of claim 10, wherein the step of wirelesslyreading includes reading the identifying information through an NFC chipassociated with the media device.
 17. The method of claim 10, furthercomprising configuring the cell phone to operate as a two-way remotecontrol device for the plurality of media devices.